Publication
Irish Bioeconomy Forum 1.0 (2021 to 2023)
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
The first iteration of the Irish Bioeconomy Forum commenced in 2021 with an initial two-year mandate and work programme. The Forum membership comprised 33 members representing a diverse range of bioeconomy perspectives including primary producers, industry, community groups, NGOs, innovation clusters and semi-state bodies. The Forum was supported by an Expert Advisory group consisting of 19 members representing Irish Higher Education Institutes and Research Performing Organisations.
The Forum held its first meeting in July 2021 and within the first year (2021-2022), it undertook five plenary meetings, 26 bilateral meetings with the forum chair and secretariat and organised three workshops. The Forum also updated the bioeconomy social network analysis and visited the Farm Zero C project at Shinagh Farm, West Cork.
Members have availed of a grant scanning opportunity and received tailored signposting from the forum secretariat on funding, finance, research, policy, and regulatory supports. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic most of these meetings were held online.
The Forum’s first year report was submitted to the Bioeconomy Implementation Group. The report can be viewed hereunder:
Reports were compiled from each of the three Forum Workshops. The first report focuses on Education, Training and Skills, and Research and Innovation. The second report looks at the role that regulation has in the development of the bioeconomy in Ireland. The third forum report captures the views and inputs of the third Bioeconomy Forum Working Group on sectoral and cross-sectoral collaboration including funding and finance, to support the development of the bioeconomy in Ireland.
The Forum workshop reports can be viewed hereunder: